From left, University students, Han Seoung-woo, Choi Hae-min, Nam Ji-hyung, Park Soo-wang and Choi Sung-wok were elementary school friends who now are core members of the company ILoveCampus.

The use of smart phones has risen dramatically since they were introduced in Korea at the beginning of this year, especially among university students.“The number of people demanding a smart phone at our agency rates over 80 percent these days,” said Park Kyu-Chul, the manager of the Ewha Woman’s University Branch of PS & Marketing Corp. Yoo Ja-gong, the manager of Cell-phone Heaven in front of the Ewha’s front gate also said, “Nine out of ten customers here purchase a Smart phone these days.”

Yoon Hyun-gook holds out his Library Information Application.

Amid the trend, some university students are finding golden opportunities to develop their own smart phone applications, also known as “apps,” that match the tastes of their fellow students. Apps are computer software programs that can be downloaded via a smart phone to help users perform singular and specific tasks.They can be developed by anyone who understands the basics of the system. Yoon Hyun-gook (Chung-ang University, 4), the developer of the Library Information Application, was the first to come up with the idea of providing instant library seat information for libraries. “The idea came from a friend who asked me to develop an application that could quickly tell him whether there were any seats left in our school library during exam periods,” Yoon said.Yoon came up with a system that allowed students from universities around the country to check the number of seats left in their schools’ libraries or reading rooms, as well as at their local libraries.“An Ewha student, for example, can simply download my application, search ‘Ewha Womans University’ and check out how many seats are left in the study rooms within the ECC in no time,” Yoon said.Yoon’s application updates seat information for 150 to 160 university and local libraries, the largest collection of library seat information yet. The ILoveCampus App was created in April, 2010 by five University students who were elementary school classmates. “We all used smart phones, and at the time, there were no apps that provided school information,” said Park Soo-wang (Sung kyun kwan University, 4), the CEO of the company ILoveCampus. “So we thought we should make one ourselves.”

Park Byeong-jo poses behind his School Timetable Application.

The Ewha version of ILoveCampus App, the ILoveEwha Appication was made in June with the help of Lee Min-young (Public Administration, 2), an Ewha student and one of the helpers of the company ILoveCampus.The ILoveEwha App assists students in many ways, such as giving access to the Ewha homepage and its notice board. “A better upgraded version of the ILove Ewha App will be launched on Sept. 1” Park said. The new app will consist of features never seen in other school applications, including instant traffic and bus information, membership service, a scheduler, and instant chatting. Park Byeong-jo (Kyungsung University, 4), an associate to the CONET Lab and Samsung Software Membership, created the School Timetable App to help students to easily check their lecture timetables.“Simplicity and lightness were the main motives,” Park said.Park’s app is one of the very first timetable apps to appear in the market. “I created my app when there weren’t many smart phone apps around,” Park said. “Now, there are many apps that are prettier than mine,” he added.To use Park’s application, one must download it first through the smart phone. Once you add the lectures to the timetable, you can look at your schedule with one touch.